The invention relates generally to dredging, and, more particularly, to a recovered material transportation system and method of using the same in a dredging or levy building operation.
Due largely to erosion, the waterways of many areas of the world are becoming choked with silt and the like. As the waterways become more and more shallow, certain problems arise. For example, navigation through the waterways becomes difficult or altogether impossible. In addition, the risk of flooding adjoining areas of a waterway increases as the depth of the waterway decreases.
Over the years, many dredging techniques have been devised. Perhaps the most popular dredging technique involves a vacuuming dredge which sucks silt and the like from the bottom of the waterway through a conduit or a hose. This technique is disadvantageous in several respects. For example, it collects large volumes of water in the dredging process. As a result, the material recovered by this dredging technique is largely a liquid mixture that is difficult to handle and dispose of. By way of another example, the vacuuming technique mentioned above tends to disturb the bed of the waterway in a manner that mixes silt and impurities imbedded in the silt into the water. Some of these impurities may be toxic (e.g., lead and mercury). Dredging with this old technique can, therefore, pose an environmental hazard. Due to these and other difficulties, dredging a waterway using the vacuuming technique is an expensive, time-consuming and hazardous proposition.
Recently, Caterpillar(copyright) has invented a new dredging assembly. The dredging assembly is a large wheel that rolls along and slices into the bed of a waterway. The wheel is compartmentalized by slicing blades that slice and pick-up segments of the bed of the waterway as the wheel turns in a fashion similar to a cookie cutter slicing cookies from dough. The development of this new dredging technology has made it possible to dredge waterways in a much more efficient, cost-effective manner. Specifically, because the dredging wheel lifts large segments of silt from the waterway bed, the material it recovers is largely solid and undisturbed, is not mixed with much (if any) additional water during dredging, and, thus, can be more efficiently handled than material recovered by the prior art vacuuming system discussed above.
While the development of the Caterpillar(copyright) dredging wheel offers a significant opportunity to recover material from the waterways of the world and to restore those waterways to navigable depths, it has also given rise to a new set of technological problems from the material handling perspective. Specifically, now that it is possible to quickly dredge large volumes of substantially solid material from a waterway, it is necessary to develop apparatus and systems for handling, transporting and/or disposing of the material recovered by the dredge.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a method of dredging a waterway is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: dredging recovered material from the waterway at a first location; loading the recovered material from a dredging vessel to a transport vessel; and moving the transport vessel to a material distribution vessel. The method also comprises the steps of: transferring the recovered material from the transport vessel to a conveyor system mounted on the material distribution vessel; and depositing the recovered material from the conveyor system into the waterway at a second location different than the first location.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method is disclosed for dredging a waterway comprising the steps of: dredging recovered material from the waterway at a first location; loading the recovered material from a dredging vessel to a water-borne transport vessel; and moving the transport vessel to an off-shore material distribution vessel at a second location different than the first location. The method also includes the steps of: transferring the recovered material from the transport vessel to a conveyor system mounted on the material distribution vessel; and conveying the recovered material from the material distribution vessel to an on-shore transport vehicle.
In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, a system is disclosed for transporting material recovered in a dredging operation performed by a dredge. The system includes a water-borne material distribution vessel including a conveyor system for receiving and depositing the recovered material. It also includes a water-borne material transportation vessel for transporting recovered material from the dredge to the material distribution vessel.